Yesterday I heard the fire alarm go off in our small town. I didn't think too much about it as I sat in a small meeting that had assemble at 10:00 am that morning.

Not long after the alarm I heard a low flying helicoter rush by over head. Again, the incident caught my attention, but nothing raised an alarm.

About 10-15 minutes later one of the the ladies in our group said she had to excuse herself. She had received a phone call and said that her dear friend's house was burning to the ground as she spoke. Furthermore, she explained, one child had died and another was currently being Careflighted to the Parkland Hospital burn unit in Dallas.

Needless to say the tone of the meeting imediately changed. We prayed for this family and wept at the shock. The meeting was adjourned shortly after this.

The lady who lost her house and one child is a friend my wife has recently met. She is a single mother of 12. Most of these children are adopted. She is a single mother because her husband left her as her convictions to care for orphans grew and he did not share the vision.

The most recent aditions came when she drove all the way to Atlanta, GA ( from East Texas) to pick up 5 children who were unwanted by their birth mother. Shortly after returning home she received a call from the birth mother letting her know that she had just given birth to a 6th child and that she could have that child too if she wanted him. So she got back in her car and drove to Atlanta to pick up the 6th child. This is the baby that died in the fire yesterday.

We decided to drive by the house on our way home to see if there was anything we could do. As we arrived the house was still on fire. There were people eveywhere. As I approached the scene I overheard a young man say "well I lost another brother." He was one of the older children in the family and he was referring to another brother who had died a few years ago. This child was also adopted, only he was adopted with a terminal illness and loved until the very moment he died, by a woman who is the very embodiment of selflessness.

As we left the central question on our minds was: How? How can the Lord allow something like this to happen? How can this woman carry on? How?

Shortly after I returned home I received a phone call from a friend who said they were having a community meeting at the house across from the Baptist church. As I arrived I could see cars everywhere. I walked in the house to realize the owner had offered it as a home until the family was able to rebuild their own home.

This house which had been empty for quite some time was now alive with a flurry of activity. The lawn was being mowed, old junk that was being stored was hauled out. Beds, dressers and food were being brought in. Toilets were being cleaned and windows were being washed. By the end of the day the home was fully decorated all the way down to bright green and blue comforters on the girls' new beds with a matching string of lighted plastic flowers draped around the window.

On the way home we stopped by the supermarket for a few things. At the check out the young lady pointed to a box on top of her register that had a sign that read "Please help..." She explained that they had been collecting money for this family and asked me what they should do with it. I put her in contact with the right person.

As I drove home I marvelled at what this community had done. Although this family had just lost both a home and a child, before the sun set they had a new home, a glimmer of hope and a community to surround them.

Pray for this family. They have suffered unimaginable loss. Pray also for our town, that this event would be a seed which would produce much fruit for the kingdom of God. Finally, pray for Christians all over the world that the selfless life demonstrated by this lady would be our living testimony of a risen Saviour.